Reading Abounds

Title:  Focused Author:  Alyson Gerber Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 181907 Description:    T welve-year-old Clea wants to do her homework, follow instructions, pay attention in school, and play chess on the school team, but it's difficult. When she is diagnosed with ADHD, she becomes determined to learn how to focus. Rubric Rating:  Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It:  Having a daughter with ADHD I thought this would be a title that she would identify with. Notes:   I really wanted to give this title a better grade but unfortunately it fell quite short of the mark in my opinion.  I read this title aloud with my daughter, even without ADHD I found the chapters way too long, and if the appeal of this book is to target readers with ADHD I'm not sure they would have the sustained attention needed.  Clea is struggling in school, she can't seem to focus in class she's distracted by the things around her, her mind flying off in all...

Title:  I'm Not Dying with You Tonight Co-Authora:  Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 200829 Description:    Told from two viewpoints, Atlanta high school seniors Lena and Campbell, one black, one white, must rely on each other to survive after a football rivalry escalates into a riot. Rubric Rating:  Level 1 - Leave it Why I Read It:  Listened to the Audiobook as it was recommended by my local library Notes:  Lena and Campbell are different, very different but for now they're stuck together.  Lena is a popular girl in school with amazing fashion sense and what you would think is a very good head on her shoulders... except when it comes to her boyfriend Black in whom she can see no wrong.  Campbell is the new girl in school.  Her mother has moved away and she's been forced to move in with her father, who other than dropping her off at school doesn't make much of appearance.  Campbell ha...

Title:  Burning Blue Author:   Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 75470 Description:    When beautiful, smart Nicole, disfigured by acid thrown in her face, and computer hacker Jay meet in the school psychologist's office, they become friends and Jay resolves to find her attacker. Rubric Rating:  Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   I had read Adrift by Paul Griffin and this novel sounded good as well. Notes:    I liked this book and read it over the course of two days.  Jay and Nicole go to the same school, they know of each other but don’t know each other.  Nicole is the school beauty queen and Jay is a loner with epilepsy. At an assembly in Freshman year Jay had an epileptic attack in front of the whole school.  He hasn’t been back since with the exception of meeting with Mrs. Schmidt the school Psychologist. Nicole’s life was great until someone squirted battery acid onto her face.  When Jay a...

Title:  Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics Series:  Mr. Lemoncello's Library - Vol. 2 Author:  Chris Grabenstein Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 136325 Description:    In this sequel, Kyle and his teammates compete with groups from all over America in the first-ever Library Olympiad, hosted by Mr. Lemoncello. Rubric Rating:  Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It:   Read Aloud Selection and loved the first book. Notes:    Kyle Keeley and his friends love Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.  But it turns out that other kids around the country think it isn’t fair that they didn’t have a turn to escape Mr. Lemoncello’s Library.  So in response, Mr. Lemoncello creates the first ever library olympics! Children around the country compete in games to be chosen to represent their district.  Soon one competitor seems to stand out – a one Marjory Muldauer – who believes libraries should be libraries qua libraries, not mini amusement ...

Title: The Poet's Dog Author: Patricia MacLachlan Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 127678 Description:   An abandoned dog, able to speak only to poets and children, rescues a pair of young children stranded in the forest. Together, they find a way to overcome their losses. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It Why I Read It: Poetry and Dogs... what more can I say.  Notes: This is one of those novels that I absolutely love.  It is written for a younger audience but there are deeper aspects to the story that are very appealing to an adult reader.   The story is encapsulated within 88 pages, and spells out the story of Teddy, the poet's dog, whose master has passed away, and Flora and Nickel, two children he finds lost in a blizzard.   The children are left in a car by their mother as she goes to look for help after getting stuck in the snow.  The children get scared and leave the vehicle and get lost in the woods where they are found by T...

Title:  Sweet Author: Emmy Leybourne Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 118944 Description: On a celebrity cruise launching a new diet sweetener, Laurel is too seasick to even try the new product and beginning to regret taking this vacation, but when her fellow passengers start behaving oddly, her trip becomes truly terrifying. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting cover and title. Notes: Laurel and her friend Vivika have scored big.  Tickets on the Solu Cruise to Lose! Laurel and Viv are healthy 17-year-olds who wear size 14 clothes.  But to today's youth that's just too big.  Everyone on the luxury cruise has been selected as a marketing ploy by Timothy Almstead, the maker of Solu.  The "solu-tion" to America's obesity epidemic.  Tom Fiorelli - or baby Tom-Tom as he's known from his early television days has been hired to do interviews and provide footage for television stations - an exclusive event that is supposed to reinvi...

Title:  Butter Author: Erin Jade Lange Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 76283 Description: Unable to control his binge eating, a morbidly obese teenager nicknamed Butter decides to make a live webcast of his last meal as he attempts to eat himself to death. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It:   Interesting cover and title. Notes: Butter's world is empty and he uses food to fill the void.  When Butter gets fed up with the bullying at school he starts a website called "Butter's Last Meal."  While it started as just an outlet for his frustration, when he starts receiving menu suggestions the website takes on a life of its own and starts to affect his real life as well.  The boys who taunted and bullied him now invite him to sit at their table, invite him bowling, and out to parties.  He gets close to his crush Anna, who has no idea that he is the JP she has been communicating with online, until he finally plays his saxophone and she reco...

Title:  Adrift Author: Paul Griffin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 104210 Description: Taking a job in Montauk for the summer, best friends Matt and Mike meet a couple girls who enjoy lives of privilege before the group becomes lost at sea in a small boat and must overcome respective differences in order to survive. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it! Why I Read It: I picked this book at the 2016 Reading for the Love of It Conference in Toronto.  I was just going to glance at it quickly and ended up starting to read it right there. Lori's Notes: This book is a very quick read and I finished it over the course of two days.  Matt and John have been friends for years and are bonded over a shared tragedy in their past.  Matt is smart and hoping to head to Yale, John is pragmatic and is planning to become an electrician.  They're spending their summer working the tourist beaches selling drinks and ice cream and this is how they meet Driana (Dri), Estefani...

Title: Kindred Souls Author: Patricia MacLachlin Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 70437 Description: Ten-year-old Jake shares a special bond with his grandfather, but when he asks Jake to build him a sod house, Jake is not sure he wants to do it. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Loved it! Why I Read it:  I needed a book to recommend for a good reader in Grade 2 Lori's Notes: Simple and elegant story of Jake and his grandfather Billy.  Billy is 88 and Jake thinks he will live forever.  Billy tells Jake they are "kindred souls."  While they walk around the farm where Billy was born he talks about his old sod house and tells Jake they will build one together.  When Billy gets bronchitis, Jake, his sister Lida, and brother Jesse work together to build Billy a new sod house.  Jake thinks this will make him better so he will stay, but perhaps that's not what Billy really needs.  This book is full of great quotes and ideas that are wonderful for classroom d...

Title: Wonder Author: R. J. Palacio Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 61954 Description: Ten-year-old Auggie, born with extreme facial abnormalities, must struggle with the taunting and fear of classmates as he enters a private school in Manhattan in an attempt to live a normal life. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Great cover and multiple requests from customers.  I read 365 Days of Wonder first so I needed to read this book too. Lori's Notes:   This book was fantastic.  August Pullman is a normal kid, except for his face.  August was born with a severe facial deformity, and because of all the surgeries this required August was home schooled.  Now that he is 10, Auggie is enrolled in Beecher Prep Academy. Nervous at first Auggie makes friends with Jack Will and Summer but kids can be cruel and everyone isn't as able to see past Auggie's exterior to the smart and funny kid he is inside.  Kids like Julian who tease Auggie and try to tur...

Title: Big Game Author: Dan Smith Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 97154 Description: A boy hunter from a remote mountain village, the President of the  United States and a terrorist plot converge in a wilderness survival adventure involving a strange creature in the woods. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: This book looked like a good adventure/survival story for boys. Lori's Notes:  It's the day of the trial.  The day before Oskari's 13th birthday.  He will walk into the forest on Mount Akka, he will hunt with the traditional bow, and he will return a man.  He will bring back what the forest gives him.  But Oskari is small and he can't even fully draw the bow back all the way.  But Oskari is determined not to disappoint his father, a man who brought back a bear.  As Oskari takes off into the forest, he heads toward his father's secret hunting ground but is quickly veered off course by the approach of a helicopter.  Thin...

Title: A Time to Dance Author: Padma Venkatraman Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 82094 Description: In India, a girl who excels a Bharatanatyam dance refuses to give up after losing a leg in an accident. Rubric Rating: Love 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: I read Climbing the Stairs by this same author and liked it so decided to read another selection by her. Lori's Notes: I was surprised when I opened the book to find the chapters written in verse rather than prose.  However, after the first couple of chapters the novel felt not like a book in verse but a book in song.  A song that made you see and feel Veda's dancing.  Veda lives with her ma, pa and Paati (grandmother).  While her mother wants Veda to become an engineer, Veda loves to dance.  And she is excited to learn that has been invited to compete in the Bharatanatyam dance competition.  Veda wins because of her amazing control over her body.  However, her greatest achievement is short lived....

Title: Shelter Series: Mickey Bolitar Author: Harlan Coben Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 52714 Description:  Mickey Bolitar is forced to live with his estranged Uncle Myron and switch high schools, and when his new girlfriend, Ashley, vanishes, he follows her trail into a seedy underworld that reveals she is not what she seems to be. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It. Why I Read It: The cover looked really interesting and I quite like mystery novels. Lori's Notes: Mickey Bolitar has moved around all his life.  However, after his father is killed in a car accident and his mother is sent to rehab, he comes to live with his uncle Myron.  Meeting Ashley at a new student orientation he is surprised when she stops showing up for school.  With the help of his "outcast" friends, Ema and Spoon, and the "popular" Rachel, they set out to discover what has happened to Ashley.  They also learn about the Abeona Shelter.  This was a fantastic story with good twi...

Title: Colin Fischer Authors: Ashley Edward Miller & Zack Stentz Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 74916 Description: A youthful Sherlock Holmes whose Asperger's syndrome makes social interaction difficult, young Colin investigates a crime where he must uncover the greatest mystery of all -- what other people are thinking and feeling. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love It! Why I Read It: Interesting Cover.  I loved the little faces all over showing different emotions. Lori's Notes: I loved this book.   I’ve had it in my reading pile for a while and it finally made it to the top of the list.   I finished it in a couple of days.   With more time I probably would have finished it in one sitting.   Colin Fischer has Asperger’s syndrome and sensory integration disorder.   He doesn’t like loud noises and he definitely doesn’t like to be touched.   This is going to make his first year in high school more than a little challenging.   He doesn’t even ...

Title: How to Lead a Life of Crime Author: Kirsten Miller Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 79256 Description:  A teenaged pickpocket, haunted by the ghost of his brother killed by his father, is recruited for Mandel Academy, a school for criminals where only one student survives each semester. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It. Why I Read It: Great title but the cover and size of this book did nothing to entice me to read it.  I picked it up as a book to take with me to the cottage and I figured I wouldn't need to take any others with a book this size.  Turns out, I should have brought a couple of extras. Lori's Notes:   I picked this book up a couple of times but put it down again because of the length.  Glad I took the time to read it!  The book has good writing, an interesting plot, and moments that made me laugh out loud.  The plot was well devised and executed.  Flick is living on the streets after running away from military school. ...

Title: To All the Boys I've Loved Before Author: Jenny Han Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 80429 Description: Lara Jean's love life goes from imaginary to out-of-control when someone finds her cache of secret love letters and mails them to the boys to whom they are addressed. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It: Interesting title and write up.  (Cover didn't appeal to me at all) Lori's Notes: I have to admit this is not really a genre that attracts me.  I don't tend to read a lot of romance fiction.  The write up sounded interesting but I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in the execution.  Lara Jean writes letters to the boy's she's in love with.  They're not love letters, they're leaving letters.  She writes them to get over her crush.  She's never actually had a real boyfriend.  However, when the letters are sent out to these five boys - including her sister's ex-boyfriend (Josh), and the first boy who ever kissed...

Title: Freaks Like Us Author: Susan Vaught Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 79417 Desription:   A mentally ill teenager who rides the "short bus" to school investigates the sudden disappearance of his best friend. Rubric Rating: Level 2 - Like It Why I Read It: I must admit it was the title and cover that made me pick up this book.  (A short bus flipped upside-down) Lori's Notes:   Freak hears voices.  He has since he was eight-years-old.  He calls his voices Bastard, Whiner, and the No-Names.  They ramble continually in his head.  Now that he's in high school he's in a special class with Drip, who has ADHD, and Sunshine, who has selective-mutism.  Freak has schizophrenia.  They've grown accustomed to their lives as "alphabets" as they call themselves.  But when Sunshine disappears all eyes turn toward Freak and Drip.  But no one ever listens to the alphabets and when the FBI is called in even Freak isn't sure that he didn't h...

Title: Cardturner Author: Louis Sachar Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 43908 Description: When his wealthy uncle, a champion bridge player who has lost his vision, asks seventeen-year-old Alton to be a cardturner for him, Alton has no idea how much he will ultimately learn from his eccentric relative.  Includes appendix by Syd Fox with information about bridge. Rubric Rating: Level 3 - Laud It Why I Read It: I really enjoyed the novel Holes and this book is by the same author. Lori's Notes: Alton's rich uncle, a champion bridge player, is blind and needs a cardturner for him to play.  A fantastic story about families and relationships, it weaves together the storylines of Alton and his uncle and first loves.  It does delve a little into the paranormal/ghostly but it wasn't distracting to the overall sense of the novel.  It also touches on the idea of how relationships change and change us.  I'm not a bridge player at all and had no idea how the game was p...

Title: The Scar Boys Author:  Len Vlahos Perma-Bound Catalogue #: 80705 Description: In a college admission essay, eighteen-year-old Harry Jones recounts a childhood defined by the hideous scars he hid behind, and how forming a band brought self-confidence, friendship, and his first kiss. Rubric Rating: Level 4 - Love it! Why I Read It: A great title and an interesting write up. Lori's Notes: This book had me captivated in the first couple of pages.  The first page consists of a college admissions essay question.  The following pages and in fact the rest of the book is Harbinger "Harry" Jones' answer to that question.  Each chapter starts with a song title and performer.  The story begins with the critical event that caused Harry's disfiguring scars.  I must say this for me was a graphic scene.  I was brought to tears and laughed out loud within the first 15 pages of the novel.  Harry must endure a painful recovery that has him addic...